Black Powder at the Range?
- Thread starter Skinny 1950
- Start date
BP is just fine with me. Hey, it was here first: just ask Friar Bacon.
Only problem I have ever had was exactly the reverse, many years ago. I worked weekends at the airline (CPAL), which gave me Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, so that was when I went to the range.
A friend and myself went out to the old Barnet Club, taking his motorcycle and 2 of my rifles and a box of ammo...... a .30-cal box. We paid our day pass and went to the shed to shoot. There was a guy there with a Schultz & Larsen in 7x61 S&H, a $200 spotting scope, a $300 rifle scope, a $100 shooting jacket (and I was working for $56 a week, mind you), a big heap of handloaded ammo and a definite case of ego. He screamed at us to stay behind the firing line (as if we were dumb enough to go in front of it), touch nothing and WAIT FOR THE BELL.
He had about 20 targets up and he spent the following HOUR shooting test groups, very, very slowly, screaming at us occasionaly for making noise (we were talking very quietly) and cautioning us repeatdly to TOUCH NOTHING and WAIT FOR THE BELL.
After an HOUR, he finally rang the freakin' bell.
We were allowed to put up our targets. So we did. Half a dozen of them.
And then we waited for the next half-hour while he measured each of his groups and changed his targets. He then sauntered back to the shed, RANG THE BELL and told us that we now were allowed to touch our rifles. He got behind his own rifle, RANG THE BELL and told us that we now could shoot.
I opened my box of ammo, shoved 20 rounds of ammo over to my friend, pulled a bunch out for myself and said quietly, "Range 100, at the target in front, 10 rounds, on your own time, rapid FIRE!".
And twenty rounds of .577 Snider ammuntion was fired very rapidly on a rifle range which backed up against a mountain, on a still, still Summer afternoon.
The clown with the attitude problem disappeared VERY rapidly, amid much cursing and grousing.
Once the smoke had cleared (another 10 minuites) we could see our targets and actually shot slowly, and quietly, for score.
And that was the only time I ever ran into trouble from another shooter.... and we hadn't even fired a shot yet!
Shooting, on the average, is the most GENTLEMANLY and COURTEOUS sport there is. I like it like that.
.
Only problem I have ever had was exactly the reverse, many years ago. I worked weekends at the airline (CPAL), which gave me Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, so that was when I went to the range.
A friend and myself went out to the old Barnet Club, taking his motorcycle and 2 of my rifles and a box of ammo...... a .30-cal box. We paid our day pass and went to the shed to shoot. There was a guy there with a Schultz & Larsen in 7x61 S&H, a $200 spotting scope, a $300 rifle scope, a $100 shooting jacket (and I was working for $56 a week, mind you), a big heap of handloaded ammo and a definite case of ego. He screamed at us to stay behind the firing line (as if we were dumb enough to go in front of it), touch nothing and WAIT FOR THE BELL.
He had about 20 targets up and he spent the following HOUR shooting test groups, very, very slowly, screaming at us occasionaly for making noise (we were talking very quietly) and cautioning us repeatdly to TOUCH NOTHING and WAIT FOR THE BELL.
After an HOUR, he finally rang the freakin' bell.
We were allowed to put up our targets. So we did. Half a dozen of them.
And then we waited for the next half-hour while he measured each of his groups and changed his targets. He then sauntered back to the shed, RANG THE BELL and told us that we now were allowed to touch our rifles. He got behind his own rifle, RANG THE BELL and told us that we now could shoot.
I opened my box of ammo, shoved 20 rounds of ammo over to my friend, pulled a bunch out for myself and said quietly, "Range 100, at the target in front, 10 rounds, on your own time, rapid FIRE!".
And twenty rounds of .577 Snider ammuntion was fired very rapidly on a rifle range which backed up against a mountain, on a still, still Summer afternoon.
The clown with the attitude problem disappeared VERY rapidly, amid much cursing and grousing.
Once the smoke had cleared (another 10 minuites) we could see our targets and actually shot slowly, and quietly, for score.
And that was the only time I ever ran into trouble from another shooter.... and we hadn't even fired a shot yet!
Shooting, on the average, is the most GENTLEMANLY and COURTEOUS sport there is. I like it like that.
.
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
i wouldn't have wasted that much expensive Snider ammo on an idjit like that, I WOULD have asked him just who he thought he was taking up all the range time....
Cat
Cat
- Location
- Kawartha Lakes, Ontario
Any time I have shot BP, the only reaction was curiosity and smiles.
The guys who shot my flinter or Sharps repro - you should have seen the grins!
I think if we somehow demystified BP, there would be a lot of guys that would pick up on it, if only for an occasional range session.
The guys who shot my flinter or Sharps repro - you should have seen the grins!
I think if we somehow demystified BP, there would be a lot of guys that would pick up on it, if only for an occasional range session.
Took my son out to the range on friday to get ready for Heffley. We had his Fox River 50 My TC Renegade 54, Pedersoli Scout 32 and H&R Buffalo 45-70 all using BP. Had a blast! Their was a young guy their shooting his "$10,000" custom 338 lapua who didn't think anyone shot BP anymore. Very nice guy but thought your wallet bought accuracy. Should have seen the look on his face when I shot tighter groups at 200 with my 45-70 with tang sights than he did with his custom jobby with nightforce scope 
. He mumbled something about load development and packed up his stuff and went home. Shortly later the rangkeepers wife came over with a big smile " You boys are either shooting BP or loading way too much powder in your catridges" we proceeded to have a long chat about how more people should give it a try, the whole time the boy was just itching to show her how well he can shoot. And she said to him " Well son lets see you shoot that thing" " Yes ma'am!" He proceeded to put 4 out of 5 into a 1.5" sticker at 50yrds she just gigled and said he could teach most of the members a thing or 2. It was an all around great day even if the weather was typical BC weather for this summer.
I was at the same rang erlier in the week doing some load work ups for my 270 and my 45-70. A group of people showed up with some young kids. A father and daughter had brought up some out of town relatives up to show them what they do for fun. I let them set up their targets and explain stuff without hearing protection, I'm never in a hurry when at the range. When they said everyone's good to go I slowly fired half a dozen 270 rounds. I wanted to let it cool down so up goes the 45-70. I can see out of the corner of my eyes the youngsters pulling at moms seater and pointing at me. Well mom wasn't too interested, until I pulled the trigger! Then I had everyones attention. They came over and asked what are you shooting and I handed them one of my shells and you could have poked their eyes out with a stick. "WOW!" the two knowledable shooters just grinned. I had the young uns attention as long as I held the"cannon" as they called it. It was a great time for everyone I even let the husband pull off a shot. He just looked at me with a grin from ear to ear and said "She sure does kick a little eh".
It's time like those at the range that are truly enjoyable. Smiles and giggles had by all. Sorry if I rambled on but just the though of those two days made me smile, and giggle little. (My wife looked at me like I was sniffing glue)
. He mumbled something about load development and packed up his stuff and went home. Shortly later the rangkeepers wife came over with a big smile " You boys are either shooting BP or loading way too much powder in your catridges" we proceeded to have a long chat about how more people should give it a try, the whole time the boy was just itching to show her how well he can shoot. And she said to him " Well son lets see you shoot that thing" " Yes ma'am!" He proceeded to put 4 out of 5 into a 1.5" sticker at 50yrds she just gigled and said he could teach most of the members a thing or 2. It was an all around great day even if the weather was typical BC weather for this summer.I was at the same rang erlier in the week doing some load work ups for my 270 and my 45-70. A group of people showed up with some young kids. A father and daughter had brought up some out of town relatives up to show them what they do for fun. I let them set up their targets and explain stuff without hearing protection, I'm never in a hurry when at the range. When they said everyone's good to go I slowly fired half a dozen 270 rounds. I wanted to let it cool down so up goes the 45-70. I can see out of the corner of my eyes the youngsters pulling at moms seater and pointing at me. Well mom wasn't too interested, until I pulled the trigger!
Then I had everyones attention. They came over and asked what are you shooting and I handed them one of my shells and you could have poked their eyes out with a stick. "WOW!" the two knowledable shooters just grinned. I had the young uns attention as long as I held the"cannon" as they called it. It was a great time for everyone I even let the husband pull off a shot. He just looked at me with a grin from ear to ear and said "She sure does kick a little eh". It's time like those at the range that are truly enjoyable. Smiles and giggles had by all. Sorry if I rambled on but just the though of those two days made me smile, and giggle little. (My wife looked at me like I was sniffing glue)
I am wondering what kind of reaction you get at the range when you shoot black powder....so far I have not had any negative feedback.
The vast majority of shooters at my range (PCDHF) claim to like the smell of BP but I know they are lying.
Whenever possible I encourage people to try black powder guns and in exchange sometimes they let me try their .44 Magnums and 1911's etc.
Nope, no complaints, no looks. Nothing but positives. They all want to shoot my flint. I think the permanent smile on my face is contagious to some.
We went to a friend's picnic in their yard, and I had the flint with me. They have a small hobby farm bordering a small river with hundreds of acres of corn surrounding their house.
So we set up an old cooler and put holes in it. About a dozen people took shots. Most of them tried it more than once and some of them just kept jumping back in line. One guy is hooked, I'm pretty sure. He smiled like I do when I'm shooting the flint.
At least 3 women tried it, my wife included. Her first time firing any kind of gun at all.
Not one single misfire or hangfire. I took extra care to get everything exactly right and it was flawless.
I guess we fired around 50 rounds over quite a little spell. It was a riot and everyone had a positive experience, except for the dog that took off running down the road and had to be retrieved.
Most of them had never fired a gun at all. I think maybe 4 of the guys are shooters or at least own a gun or have fired a gun. they're all country boys.
I got to shoot a .357 Magnum for the first time as well as a really nice reproduction of a 1873 Colt in .45.
Here is a little video of black powder shooting at the range:
One day, Sir, you'll regret the position of your left index finger.
Mind you, you'll only need to do it once.
tac
Indoor range?
Where's a brass-jacket .450 G&G Maxim when you need one?
On a saner note, objections ARE understandable on an indoor range. Our local indoor range won't allow ammo that will destroy the backstop. That's understandable, too..... sort of.
.
Where's a brass-jacket .450 G&G Maxim when you need one?
On a saner note, objections ARE understandable on an indoor range. Our local indoor range won't allow ammo that will destroy the backstop. That's understandable, too..... sort of.
.
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
If a range ventilation system will not remove the smoke from a BP pistol or rifle, I won't shoot there!
Think about that for a bit.
The smo0ke is not going away, and much of the lead poisoning found from ranges is in the smoke fr0om the primers , etc from modern fore arms.
The BP smoke should be dissipated just as fast as the smokeless stuff, and if it isn't , that means you likely have a bunch of contaminants hanging around anyway!
Cat
303EppsFan
CGN Regular
- Location
- Almonte,Ontario
My son and I were recently shooting our 45-120 Sharps with black. After the first round which resulted in that rolling boom and a cloud of white smoke we had about five on-lookers asking "What the h### was that?". No negatives at all.
I've always tried to be courteous, and haven't had a problem... until this Easter. I arrived at our range to find 2 large groups of non member out of province shooters who less than courteously made space for me at a station piled with their empty rifle cases and eventually asked if I wished to put a target up. They begrudgingly accepted my request that they clear the line before I did. 3 shots later and voila, my preferred downwind station was open and 1 group was leaving. The other group and I had a nice afternoon after that
Over the course of this past year, I have gotten into shooting sidelocks. These things have the potential for addiction. I am up to two rifles and three calibers (one rifle has two barrels of different calibers): a .45, .50 and .54. Whenever I go to the range, the reactions are positive, with other shooters coming over to see the rifles and ask questions about how to use them and how they shoot. Some even ask to try them out.
NorthCoastBigBore
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Northwest BC (Rural) 103-I-##
Ya I have never got negative responses either, with a frontstuffer or cartridge loads. Most folks seem interested.
stevejones
Regular
- Location
- Courtenay, BC
I get a lot of curiosity and smiles from folks. Especially when they see the size of the cartridge from my Snider! I remember years ago I was shooting an 1851 colt repro in the early in the fall. The range was full of last minute hunters checking their rifles...When I started to shoot my six gun the smoke drifted across the firing line and after the third shot everyone downwind had to stop shooting. I reloaded (a slow process) and fired all six shots again. One fellow approached my friend and asked "What Kind Of G$d D!@#$D Dirty Harry Magnum Cannon Is That Guy Shooting?" When I stopped shooting I noticed my friend was somewhat bemused....
Cowichan Fish and Game club used to have a "BP day" but there are so few who shoot BP now that the special once-a-month day is gone. If your club has a lot of smokies then suggest at a meeting to have a "BP only" day in the calender. There is a way to make everybody happy, as long as somebody makes a sacrifice somewhere. On a side note, what kind of gunnut gets upset about gunsmoke, big booms and flame from the muzzle?
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
My Indian made reproduction flintlock blunderbuss seems to always draw curious glances & questions. Same with the percussion howdah pistol. Yes, a good & deer capable muzzleloading rifle is in my future plans. Clouds of BP smoke are not a big issue at our outdoor range.
There's something very satisfying regarding BP firearms, the slow pace & detailed loading procedures, the sulphur aroma after the very first distinct report, all add a certain ambiance to this unique shooting sport. BPCR deserves mention here as well.
It's been too long since I tried it at the Bethune range in Southern Saskatchewan.
There's something very satisfying regarding BP firearms, the slow pace & detailed loading procedures, the sulphur aroma after the very first distinct report, all add a certain ambiance to this unique shooting sport. BPCR deserves mention here as well.
It's been too long since I tried it at the Bethune range in Southern Saskatchewan.
